Big Changes Coming to Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Web services division of the e-commerce juggernaut,
has dropped some big news about some new capabilities for customers that are designed to
help support the security, network management, dedicated connectivity and
identity management requirements that enterprises need when they install mission-critical
applications in the cloud.

One huge change taking place is the expansion of Amazon
Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) to all AWS regions. This will allow
enterprises to launch their Amazon VPC ecosystems around the world, including from the east and west coasts of the United States, Europe, Singapore and Tokyo, as well as the multiple AWS Availability
Zones within each region.

With Amazon VPC, businesses can now procure a private
section of AWS and then open their AWS resources in a virtual network that they
define and control. This includes selecting the IP address range, creating
subnets and configuring route tables and network gateways. Now, businesses
have an easy method of leveraging AWS while keeping the same security and
management controls already familiar to them.

AWS also announced AWS
Direct Connect, which will allow enterprises to bypass the Internet and deliver data to and
from AWS by using a private connection, which will help increase bandwidth
throughout, reduce networking latency and costs, and provide a more consistent networking
experience for when enterprises need to move data between AWS and their data
centers.

AWS Identity and Access Management (AWS IAM) also got an
overhaul, adding new functionality that enables “identity federation,” which is
the ability for enterprises to use their existing corporate identities to allow
users both secure and direct access to AWS resources without having to create a new AWS identity for them. Because of this, enterprises can
programmatically request the necessary security credentials that grant their
corporate identities access to AWS resources that are controlled by that
enterprise.

Both Amazon VPC and IAM can be accessed through the AWS
Management Console. Console support for AWS Direct Connect will come along
later this year.